KID CANAVERAL - SHOUTING AT WILDLIFE

So having talked at length yesterday about how I don't listen to new music, here I am Mr Hypocrite just the very next day typing a review of Shouting at Wildlife, the debut LP by Kid Canaveral which hits the shops next week on Monday 5th July.

But the thing is I don't look upon Kid Canaveral as a new and emerging act even although this is their debut LP. It's probably around three years since I first read about them when they were mentioned by Matthew over at Song By Toad when I also had a listen to their debut single Smash Hits, liked what I heard and sent away for my own copy of it, which came as a 7" record with a digital download also enclosed on a CD. How very modern and fresh I remember thinking.....and evidence also of how this internet malarkey works when you get to hear things you wouldn't otherwise on radio or telly.

Since then I've sort of followed the band from a distance - I've picked up each successive single either direct from the band's own small label, the brilliantly named Straight To Video Records - and finally a couple of months back, after failing dismally on at least four previous occasions due to one shoddy reason or another, I got to see them live at the excellent Aye Tunes/Peenko night at the Captain's Rest in Glasgow. So I couldn't resist when I was asked to give a digital copy of the LP an advance listen and pen my thoughts.

For those who don’t know, Kid Canaveral were formed in 2005 by a group of students studying in St Andrews - David MacGregor (guitar and vocals), Kate Lazda (guitar and vocals), Rose McConnachie (bass and vocals) and Dan Sheehy (drums). They’ve since lost both their original and a replacement drummer, and the bloke behind the kit nowadays is Scott McMaster.

The thing I love most about Kid Canaveral is that they remind me how fun there is to be had from listening to music. Sure, much of my collection stretching back over 30 years now is one that can be lazily classed as miserablist or angst-ridden or po-faced or joyless. Personally I prefer the word earnest. But you don’t need to look too far among the records or CDs to find a fair bit of stuff within which I would categorise Kid Canaveral, and that is ‘Indie-pop at its purest.’

Now don’t get me wrong – I am not going to claim that Shouting At Wildlife is a record that will change your life or even change your views on what constitutes good pop music. Nor am I going to make some sort of outlandish claim that Kid Canaveral are the best act to emerge out of Scotland in the past 20 years. But I am going to say that as far as debut LPs go, this is one that doesn’t disappoint.

Nowadays, I listen to new music and try and think who it most reminds me of. For this lot, it’s a mix of Buzzcocks, Undertones and Hey! Elastica, with just a pinch of Belle & Sebastian thrown in when things are slowed down a little bit. Oh and David’s distinct Scottish vocal delivery brings back a lot of fond memories of the great Hugh Duggie of Foil. And that isn’t too shabby an honour-roll.......

There’s 12 tunes on Shouting At Wildlife, including re-recorded versions of a couple of the singles from a few years back. If I’m going to be picky, I could say that I prefer the original versions of the singles but that’s probably down to the fact that I know the songs so well and listening to alt versions will take a wee bit of getting used to. And if I’m going to be really really picky, I’m not always convinced that when Kate or Rose take on the lead vocal duties, the tunes manage to have the same oomph factor as when David steps up to the mike.

But that's not the same as saying the songs the girls sing on aren't any good. They're excellent as it happens - particularly the melodic and dreamy Quiet Things Are Quiet Now - but there is no denying that the faster and louder tunes on which David sings are the ones that get my feet tapping and head bobbing from side to side as I listen on the i-pod getting funny looks from my fellow train commuters. And don't get me started on how easy it is to sing along to the joyous and infectiously catchy You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night. Particularly if you've been drinking......

Overall verdict? This is a debut LP that is nigh on impossible to dislike and one that deserves to take the band to a much wider audience than those who turn up in good numbers whenever they play Glasgow or Edinburgh.

I’m not too sure mind you if an overwhelming endorsement from the likes of me is exactly what the band are looking for. Let’s face it, I’m old enough to be their dad and most of the folk who go along and watch them probably look at me in the audience and think I’m the embarrassing uncle who still thinks he can groove with the best of them (come to think of it, that’s probably what most folk at gig probably think when they catch my frame in a t-shirt that is often one size too small (or even worse was designed as a skinny-fit!). But like it or lump it, Kid Canaveral are getting a big-thumbs up from TVV, and I recommend that you pick up a copy of Shouting At Wildlife when it hits the shops next week.

Alternatively, you could do what I’ve done and pre-order it direct from the band – they’re promising that the initial orders will get some surprise goodies thrown in for good measure.

Those of us living in Scotland just now are very fortunate to have so many great singers and bands kicking around just now. Old favourites like Paul Haig, Trashcan Sinatras and Teenage Fanclub continue to impress all these years on while the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Meursault and Twilight Sad (to name but three) have shown that they are capable of sustaining class beyond hugely impressive debut records. I’d like to think that Kid Canaveral will be one we’re still going along to enjoy in a few years time. But I wonder how many drummers they will have gone through by then (only kidding Scott……..)

You can keep up with all that this KC sunshine band are up to by looking at their website here. And I do recommend going along and catching them live if they’re coming to a town or city near where you live…

So here's the outstanding opening track on the album track together with an old b-side to enjoy:-
mp3 : Kid Canaveral - Good Morning
mp3 : Kid Canaveral - Teenage Fanclub Song

And here's a wee live performance from about six months ago:-



Happy Listening. Literally.

THE LAST BUT ONE NEW AMERICAN INVASION

I'm quite happy to admit that I'm not the greatest at keeping up with all that's happening with music nowadays. Before I started the blog, I wasn't too bad as I would buy at least one glossy music magazine per month which at least let me read about what had been released and I would also occasionally, if going on a long bus or train journey, buy the NME and see who was being talked about as the next big thing.

But over the past four years I've slowed down and in fact it must be getting on for nine months since I last handed over cash for a music mag. Neither have I watched any of the music channels on satellite telly - I reckon that there cant be much out there that is entirely new that wont remind of something else, so I've almost stopped searching entirely. It's not as if I don't get the opportunity to do something about it - I must get about 100 emails a week with mp3s attached asking me to have a listen. But I really just don't have the time any more, so all of them will be quickly deleted - sometimes I feel rotten about it, but I've got too many other things going on - particularly in a World Cup year and the fact that the sun has been shining so much that the golf course continually beckons.

My boss at work however is someone who even in his early 50s still buys the NME week after week to keep abreast of things. A few weeks back he passed me a copy which had a band called The Drums on the cover which was entitled 'The New American Invasion.' He did this as the band members, all of whom look too young to have begun shaving never mind living anything like a rock'n'roll lifestyle, were raving about British indie music and mentioning long-forgotten Scottish acts like Close Lobsters, The Pastels and The Orchids while also tipping their collective baseball caps in the direction of Sir Edwyn of Collins.

Now I've never heard any song recorded by The Drums, but based on that I've a fair idea what it might sound like. I'll probably quite like it if truth be told. But then again, I'm sure neither they nor their record label or management really care what a 47 year-old nostalgia freak really thinks in any case.

But what made me laugh most of all about all of this was the fact that the NME was devoting a whole issue to emerging American bands and telling its readers that this was the future of rock'n'roll. Just like they did back in 2001 when a week wouldn't go past without them bumming up The Strokes. And then maybe 10 years prior to that, it was the grunge bands that had taken up all the column inches. So I guess if Stateside boys and girls are thinking that they've got to make it big over here and hope that the UK's biggest and most important music paper will get behind them, they better wait until another decade passes by.

The article did make me dig out Is This It and listen to it in its entirety for the first time in maybe 5 or 6 years. To be fair, it has worn quite well, but it didn't change anything for me the way that the earliest recordings by say The Smiths or Joy Division did. Having said that, I'm guessing that quite a few folk who were 16-21 years of age at the time of its release will still have it high up on their lists of all time favourite records.

mp3 : The Strokes - Barely Legal
mp3 : The Strokes - New York City Cops
mp3 : The Strokes - Someday

Having written all this nonsense, tune in tomorrow, if you can be bothered, for my thoughts on something quite new.

Happy Listening

SUN IS SHINING

Warning

Much of what I'm going to say today is a re-hash of a piece I put together a couple of years back. But in all honesty, I have to make reference to the fact that the weather in Glasgow this past few weeks has been pleasantly warm and sunny with almost no rain whatsoever - a total contrast to the so-called summers we've experienced in recent years.

Looking back now at the messy break-up of The Jam and the formation of The Style Council in 1983, I don't think anyone can argue that Paul Weller did the right thing.

He was no longer an angry young man who wanted to write guitar-laden anthems for a three-piece. Instead, he wanted to compose dreamy love songs with lush arrangements that relied on jazz-style drumming and keyboards and the occasional burst from a horn section. He proved to be very successful at this, but at no point did he go totally MOR as he was more than capable of incorporating some politically motivated stuff into his work with his new band.

I'm not ashamed to say that I love a great many of the songs released by The Style Council. No, they will never be as a great an outfit as The Jam, but then not many ever have been. Yes, TSC were a product of the times and somehow very 1980s when record companies, like society itself, believed image was everything. Weller played the game magnificently, going all the way to wearing pastel shades of sweaters tied around his neck.

Hell, I was even caught up in the mood for a while and stopped dressing purely in black over that long, gloriously warm summer of 1984 as I enjoyed what I knew would be the last extended holiday period in my life as I faced up to my final honours year at University. I was now living away from home for the first time, I had a couple of great flatmates and was, or so I believed, seriously in love.

I know there have been gloriously warm summers since 1984, but I can never really recall them. It was a time of enjoying life to the full just lazing on sunny afternoons,sitting with friends in some park or open space somewhere in Glasgow listening to music coming from the speakers of a portable cassette player thinking we were the coolest group of folk on the planet.

Most folk near us in the park probably thought we were pretentious arseholes. And looking back almost half-a-lifetime ago, they were more than likely correct in that assessment.....

One of the most popular C90s we listened to had all loads of TSC songs. They seemed to fit the mood just perfectly. Especially the four songs that had been on the A Paris EP some 12 months earlier.

mp3 : The Style Council – Long Hot Summer (extended version)
mp3 : The Style Council – Party Chambers
mp3 : The Style Council – The Paris Match
mp3 : The Style Council – Le Depart

Happy days indeed.

And who can ever forget the video that was either a brilliant piss-take or evidence to the non-believers that Weller had disappeared up his own arse.....




Happy Listening. And viewing.

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

A few unexpected things have been happening in the lives of a number of the Sunday Correspondents which have had an impact on their abilities to type away and provide pieces for the blog. For instance, a couple of weeks back we should have been enjoying the latest musings from The Sense Collective, but a wee unexpected turn of events at his place of employment has meant he has had to concentrate his energies on things that are far more important than crocheting a few clichés to entertain and inform readers of this small part of the internet.

Cullen Skink was then hoping to talk about turning 40 years of age and looking back at some his favourite songs from each of the decades, but between organising a get-together at his house and planning for a family holiday that involves driving from Glasgow to France with two very excited kids in the back seats, he also ran out of time.

And then, just a couple of days ago, I learned from John Greer of an illness in his family which is going to see him likely to be running back and forth from his home in East Lothian to the Kingdom of Fife on a regular basis. Never mind the fact that John might have less time than usual to help out here every now and again, he might well not have the inclination.

So I thought I'd step into the slot this weekend, strictly as a one-off, but rather than ramble on in some sort of subconscious and incoherent fashion, I want to use this slot to give a big thank you to everyone who has been part of The Sunday Correspondents series over the past 5 months.

The idea of The Sunday Correspondents all came from the success of the series in May/June 2009 when almost 40 different readers offered their services to provide a guest posting while I was away on holiday. Rather than select just 14 volunteers to cover the period of the holiday, I ended up using every piece that was sent in, and there’s no doubt that it proved to be one of the best and most enjoyable features I’ve ever run. It was clear that guest postings added a new dimension and dynamic to the blog.

So, I approached a number of folk who have been friends for years along with someone whose June 2009 guest posting led to clamours for him to start up his own blog, and asked if they fancied doing something for me every six weeks or so. It all kicked off on 10 January when John Greer took on the task of setting the standards, and in providing a hugely entertaining overview on the life and work of Trevor Horn, and by posting an mp3 by Dollar, he also demonstrated that no singer or band was going to be out of bounds. The public reaction was hugely favourable going by the comments left behind.

Since then, we’ve had all sorts of great stuff from the guys I've mentioned above as well as Dick van Dyke, Jacques the Kipper, The Ghost of Troubled Joe and our newest volunteer, Red and Ginger. Oh and who can forget that Valentine’s Day 2010 saw the genius who manages the Punk Rock Hotel share his amazing tale of finding the master tape of a long-lost Bourgie Bourgie promo video and give a world-exclusive showing within the pages of TVV.

The quality of the writing has been consistently excellent. The fact that so many different people are prepared to take the time to share their thoughts, views and memories and link these to songs from so many different eras and genres has certainly taken The Vinyl Villain to a new dimension. I genuinely do not know from one week to the next what is going to emerge from the keyboards of the various contributors, nor do I know what particular songs they are going to want to showcase. Everyone brings something completely different to the party and that’s where the strength of the series lies.

And I do just want to say a big thank you to all the contributors. Everyone of them have an awful lot of other things going on in their lives at the best of times juggling demands placed on them by family, work and social activities, and they could do without me harassing them into doing something that is time-consuming and probably a bit of a pain in the rear-end to do. And it really only hit me in recent weeks when The Sense Collective and Cullen Skink got all apologetic and were concerned about letting me down when they've got a million and one other things way more important to be getting on with.

As I said before, thank you Sunday Correspondents. Consider this you getting mentioned in dispatches. The medals for tours of duty are on order……

Incidentally, if anyone else fancies joining in, all you have to do is drop me a line. The pay is non-existent, but there is some degree of self-satisfaction from seeing your efforts on-screen.

mp3 : Pavement - Type Slowly

Happy Listening

FROM THE ARCHIVES....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS

COMPUTER LOVE

I'm using as much time as possible this weekend to try and re-load some 20,000 music files from the back-up drive back onto my PC....but am discovering that it's taking far longer than I would like. It's a task that's also giving me a form of Repetitive Strain Injury......

So I still don't really have the time to sit and crochet a few half decent cliches to go with any tunes that I throw up for your enjoyment.

I thought some of you might enjoy another listen to this effort from 1990 - one of only two singles by The Pixies to crack the Top 30 in the UK. Oh and I reckon the posting is worth it alone for one of the additional tracks on the CD single, given that it features a rare solo vocal from Kim Deal. Oh and given its also a cracking cover of a Neil Young track, well I think I'm entitled to think I'm sort of spoiling you all rotten today.....

mp3 : The Pixies - Velouria
mp3 : The Pixies - Make Believe
mp3 : The Pixies - I've Been Waiting For You
mp3 : The Pixies - The Thing

Happy Listening

Originally Posted on 29th November 2008.

That was a horrible few days. The thing is, I half expect it to happpen again one day and I'll have to reload everything again from the back-up drive. It was much easier when everything was just vinyl. Bit more room was needed mind you......

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 29)

This has been inspired by me delve into history with the posting I shoved up last Saturday that featured the Show Me The Door/Sixteen Reasons single by Jazzateers from 1983.

The thing is, you can get your hands on a fair chunk of the band's output by purchasing I Shot The President, a compilation CD released in 1997 on the German-based Marina Records. Its 19 tracks consisting of their 1983 debut self-titled LP which was issue by Rough Trade (which featured Graeme Skinner on lead vocals and Paul Quinn on backing vocals) and the songs that would have made up the intended follow-up LP Blood Is Sweeter Than Honey (which featured Matthew Wilcox on vocals). It's a CD I can heartily recommend to anyone who is a fan of the music that was coming out of Glasgow in the early-mid 80s....copies sometimes pop-up on ebay for reasonable prices.

The intended follow-up came about in 1985, after the messy break-up of Bourgie Bourgie, when Keith Band resurrected Jazzateers. And although the intended LP never saw the light of day for another 12 years, a low-key single release of one of the tracks did sneak out on Stampede Records, which, given the name and address printed on the centre-label, was seemingly run out of someone's home - possibly even that of Keith Band himself.

It was a single I knew about but until a few months back, didn't have a copy until one appeared in the second-hand section of one of the local indie stores. I've since seen another copy in the same shop, so maybe someone is getting rid of a box of them that have been gathering dust in an attic or lock-up for almost 25 years.

Whatever the case, I think its a damn fine splendid single - with a vocal that is somewhat reminiscent of Lloyd Cole - and one that is a very worthy addition to this long-running series.

mp3 : Jazzateers - Pressing On
mp3 : Jazzateers - Spiral

The b-side, despite having a different name, is an instrumental version of the single.

Happy Listening.

IT'S OFFICIALLY MIDSUMMER TODAY

So here's how we will commemorate it at TVV:-

mp3 : Saint Etienne - Kiss And Make Up (Midsummer Madness Mix)
mp3 : Saint Etienne - Kiss And Make Up (Midsummer Dubness Mix)

The band's second single, released in September 1990, featured Donna Savage on lead vocal. It was a cover of the song Let's Kiss And Make Up which had been released the previous year by The Field Mice. This is the remix as put together by superstar DJ Pete Heller.

Happy Listening.

PS : mp3s now available. There was a technical hitch of sorts from 6am - 8.30am. I simply forgot to load them up.........sorry.

IT'S TIME TO GIVE PRAISE TO THE OTHER TWO

I am of course refering to Gillian Gilbert and Steven Morris, the folk in New Order who weren't Barney or Hooky.

Back in 1991, as if to prove they had as much talent as the more famous/notorious/attention-seeking members of the band, they combined to release a superb pop/dance 12" single on Factory Records.

mp3 : The Other Two - Tasty Fish (O.T. Mix)
mp3 : The Other Two - Tasty Fish (Pascal 12" Mix)

Stalled at #41 in the charts. Deserved much better.

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T DANCE TO THE FALL?

A few weeks ago, when writing about Cocteau Twins I mentioned how I'd gone along to a gig by The Fall in 1982 that had left me totally bemused. Now I may have given the impression that Mark E Smith and his cohorts were an act that have always left me cold. If so, I now wish to clear-up any misunderstanding.

I can't claim to be a massive fan, nor do I have many of their records in the collection. I did once own this particular 12" single, but I havent been able to find it anywhere in the collection for years. I've either loaned it to someone or had it nicked at some point in time. But thankfully, instead of having to pay a fortune for it, I've been able to enjoy it again courtesy of its inclusion on a truly fantastic 2004 compilation CD entitled 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong.

From 1985

mp3 : The Fall - Cruiser's Creek

If you don't know much about The Fall, the compilation is as good a place to start as any - it contains 39 songs drawn from 1978-2003 and demonstrates just how many different ways the band has made music over the years.

And you will soon see how over the years The Fall have been a big inflluence on so many bands that have picked up guitars over the past three decades.:-

From 1980

mp3 : The Fall - Totally Wired

From 1983

mp3 : The Fall - The Man Whose Head Expanded

From 1987

mp3 : The Fall - Hit The North

From 1993

mp3 : The Fall - Why Are People Grudgeful?

I'll stop there for now...........go out and buy the CD for yourself.

BACK......AFTER 9 LOST DAYS

It was away back on the morning of the first ever Blog Rocking Beats that a problem developed with my phone line that left me without internet access. Without going into too much details - suffice to say that BT are a bunch of useless and incompetent twats - it was only this afternoon, thanks to my 74-year old dad doing a bit of emergency house-sitting that service was restored.

The postings that have appeared were all written in advance. This is something I've done for a while now just in case this sort of thing happens or some other unforeseen event or emergency occurs. Thing was, the planned Sunday Correspondent pieces for the last two weeks hadn't been posted, and I'd left last Monday free to talk about the first BRB night. So here goes, a week late, but better than not at all.

Drew did a superb job bringing it altogether, and I can never thank him enough. All I did was turn up with three huge bags of that held 180 items of vinyl - 7", 12" and LPs alike - way way way more than I was ever going to play, but that's because I wanted to see how it was all going before slipping the needle into a particular groove.

Anyway, there wasn't a huge crowd, and the majority of them were friends of Drew, every single one of who was among the nicest 100 folk I've met in my entire life. From my part, Mrs Villain and one of her pals came along as did The Sense Collective, a colleague from work and her other half and, this is where I still shake my head in amazement, one long-time reader, occasional commentator and part of the team that wrote for the blog in the Merry Month Of May series in 2009 came along, with a couple of mates and said hello.

So thank you Son Of The Rock. You're a truly wonderful human being, and I'm sorry I didn't have the records that you wanted me to play with me on the night. Hope it didn't spoil things too much.

A few Flying Duck regulars came along, most of whom stayed on for a while which was hugely pleasing. As far as I could see, not one person came in and immediately turned on their heels and walked out. Which was both pleasing and a relief.

I wouldn't ever claim that Fatboy Jim was DJing on the night in question. It was more like someone had given me two nice record players with big speakers and I got to choose what was being aired for much of the evening. And it was fairly predictable, although the comments I got on the night were favourable.

Drew on the other hand is bloody good at this thing. Not only has he an ear for a great tune and an ability to make them run seamlessly into one another, his eclectic taste made for a hugely enjoyable evening.

ANCB from A North Country Boy was also in attendance. He was supposed to be part of the evening, but he cried-off thinking that myself and Drew were some sort of experts and didn't fancy being shown up. When he realised just how unprofessionally we were approaching it, he was more than happy to delve into some of my vinyl and take a little stint behind the wheels of steel.

(Our other musketeer - Gareth from How Does That One Go Again? - was at a wedding and couldn't make it)

Drew did the first hour, then I followed on before ANCB did a 30 minute stint. Drew then did a tremendous hour or so that actually got a few folk dancing. My next stint got a couple of dancers as well as The Sense Collective and Mrs Villain singing along to some of the songs. for the final hour, Drew and myself traded tunes - neither of us knew what the other was going to put on the deck and the other had to find something suitable that followed it - right up to the last three tunes which we had agreed on beforehand.

Here's the set-list in full:-

Drew

BMX Bandits – Serious Drugs
Peter Parker – Swallow The Rockets
Crystal Stilts – Love Is A Wave
The Fall – Blindness
The Kingfishers – Make Me Sad
Jenny Lewis – Carpetbaggers
Lone Justice – After The Flood
Pavement – Summer Babe (Winter version)
Bobby Cook – Gone So Far
Dr Rubberfunk – Fantasy Funk Band
The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There
Smith & Mighty – Walk On By
Primal Scream – Uptown (Long After The Disco Is Over)

JC

The Clash – Radio Clash
Teenage Fanclub - Life's a Gas
Associates – 18 Carat Love Affair
Fatima Mansions – Blues For Ceaucescu
Electronic – Getting Away With It
Blur – Popscene
Orange Juice – L.O.V.E. Love
Kirsty McColl – You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby
The Smiths – Bigmouth Strikes Again
Johnny Cash – Ring Of Fire
Friends Again – Sunkissed
Scritti Politti – Asylums In Jerusalem
Paul Haig – Never Give Up (Party Party)

ANCB

The Clash – Bankrobber
James – Come Home
Cameo – Word Up
Human League – Love Action
The Cure – Love Cats
The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Drew

Squeeze – Up The Junction
The Jags – Back Of My Hand
Specials – Too Much Too Young (fucked and pulled off about 30 seconds in)
Amy Winehouse – Monkey Man
The Clash – White Man In Hammersmith Palais
Battle – Demons
Ida Maria – Stella
Shout Out Louds – Very Loud
Inspiral Carpets – I Want You
Velvet Underground – White Light White Heat
Pastels – Crawl Babies
Airborne Toxic Event – Moving On
Frightened Rabbit – Backwards Walk
Meursault – A Few Kind Words

JC

Young Knives – Up All Night
Magazine – A Song From Under The Floorboards
Morrissey – Last Of The Famous International Playboys
Bourgie Bourgie – Breaking Point
The Style Council – Speak Like A Child
Aztec Camera – Walk Out To Winter (single version)
Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven
REM – Don’t Go Back To Rockville
Go Betweens – Streets Of Your Town
Camper Van Beethoven – Take The Skinheads Bowling
New Order – Age Of Consent
Orange Juice - Felicity
Teenage Fanclub – Everything Flows

Drew

The Pale Fountains – From Across The Kitchen Table
Woodentops – Good Thing
Human Beinz – Nobody But Me
Jackie Wilson – Because Of You
Johnny Boy – You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve
Elvis Presley – Crawfish (Pilooski edit)
The Cramps - Can Your Pussy Do The Dog
Bang Bang Machine – Geek Love

JC/Drew

Aztec Camera – Oblivious
Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane
The Bodines – Therese
The Slow Club – Trophy Room
The Smiths – Hand In Glove
The Wedding Present – Kennedy
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Upside Down
Ballboy – All The Records On The Radio Are Shite
Orange Juice – Blueboy
Jonathan Richman And The Modern Loves – That Summer Feeling
Bessie Banks – Go Now

And as the clock struck midnight, we slinked off into the evening vowing that we would do it all again on Saturday 11th July. Well, at least myself and ANCB said we would as Drew and Gareth are on holiday.

Which gives us a few problems....

(1) Drew was the only one who vaguely knew what he was doing - but I reckon I took enough in on the night to cope next time out

(2) Drew was the person who attracted most of the crowd. Next time, I know most of the folk I'd be talking to and asking to come along will also be away from Glasgow as it is slap bang in the middle of the school holidays

(3) I reckon it clashes with T in The Park which will keep some folk away

(4) Who wants to be in a basement club on warm sunny nights?

So, I'm worried that no-one will be there. Therefore I need all the Scottish bloggers to get the word round and lend a hand with spreading the news. More on that nearer the time.....

And that is my take on one of the most nervous but ultimately fun nights of my entire life. And I can't wait to do it again.

mp3 : Au Revoir Simone - The Disco Song

Happy Listening.

NEITHER A HIT NOR A FLOP.....

Having got to #1 with the Norman Cook remix of Brimful Of Asha (as featured previously on this very blog), Cornershop finally had a profile after five years of obscurity.

If there was any justice in the world, then this, one of a number of outstanding tracks from the LP When I Was Born For The 7th Time, would have also crashed high into the charts.

Sadly, Sleep On The Left Side stalled at #23, which in my books is enough to keep the band away from those that are listed as 'one-hit wonders', but proof that the record-buying public would only embrace the band's unique mix of indie, dance and Asian music if someone famous like Fatboy Slim put their name to it.

The single is an edited down version of the original track that was on the LP, but it also came with other innovative and wonderful mixes:-

mp3 : Cornershop - Sleep On The Left Side (Radio Edit)
mp3 : Cornershop - Sleep On The Left Side (Ashley Beedle's Right Hand Radio Edit)
mp3 : Cornershop - Sleep On The Left Side (Les Rythmes Digitales' Living By Numbers Mix)
mp3 : Cornershop - Sleep On The Left Side (Ashley Beedle's Right Hand Extended Mix)

New Order fans everywhere will surely adore the LRD mix.......

Happy Listening.

FROM THE ARCHIVES....A SERIES FOR SATURDAYS

LIVING IN THE PAST

I've mentioned before how getting this blog up and running has rekindled an enthusiasm bordering on the obsessive as far as music goes.

I'm now browsing through e-bay on a regular basis and picking up all sorts of wonderful things on vinyl. Mr Postman today delivered the above sleeve complete with a magical piece of black vinyl that was 7" in diameter.

Jazzateers were formed in 1980 by guitarist Ian Burgoyne and bassist Keith Band. By 1982, they had a vocalist called Paul Quinn (who I may just have payed homage to elsewhere in T.V.V.) and recorded an LP for Postcard Records that was never released.

Fast forward to 1983 and Paul has gone to be replaced by Graeme Skinner (although Paul Quinn was still employed on backing vocals!!!!) By now the band had signed with Rough Trade. This was the earliest fruits of their labour:-

mp3 : Jazzateers - Show Me The Door
mp3 : Jazzateers - Sixteen Reasons

Personally I think Sixteen Reasons, the b-side, is a superior song. Which is probably why it was perversely placed on the flip-side.....

Anyway.....Graeme Skinner left the band soon after and joined Hipsway who had a Top 10 hit with The Honeythief.

Ian Burgoyne and Keith Band, who wrote both of the tracks on this single, joined up again with Paul Quinn in Bourgie Bourgie. After that, they reformed Jazzateers with yet another lead singer - Matthew Wilcox.

Oh, and I should mention that another member of Mark 3 of Jazzateers was Mick Slaven and he would later team up with Paul Quinn as part of The Independent Group.

Confused???? You should be. I am - and I'm typing all this from pre-prepared notes!!!

The posting is for Jacques The Kipper - a dear friend for many many years. His love of music, and in particular the songs of Scottish bands such as Jazzateers, surpasses just about anyone I know. I'm trying really hard to persuade him to sign up as a contributor - I might have to resort to an on-line petition.

(Adapted slightly from the original posting which appeared on 11th January 2007)


Delighted that after much arm-twisting JtK is now on board as a Sunday Correspondent. He may or may not be scheduled to appear tomorrow.......

Oh and while I'm here, I should ask that you stop over at Punk Rock Hotel, the amazing site devoted to all things Paul Quinn. You'll find footage of him as part of Bourgie Bourgie performing live versions of the two songs featured today on a Channel 4 music programme.......click here

JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT

So I get to take the day off blogging if that's Ok with you lot.

mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Old Enough To Know Better

Oh and this weekend also sees Cullen Skink, one of the wonderful Sunday Correspondents, turn 40. Seemingly he's in denial..........

LOVE WILL TEAR US APART

I spent a fair bit of time ripping the vinyl for all the tracks for the Edwyn Collins postings, not to mention researching a bit about the record label.

So if you don't mind. I will let the music speak for itself today:-

mp3 : Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
mp3 : Joy Division - These Days
mp3 : Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine)

All ripped from my original 12" single bought upon its release in 1980. Pennine refers to the name of the studio in Oldham where that particular version was recorded in January 1980. The version that was eventually cut as the single was recorded two months later in Stockport.

Still has the ability to send a wee shiver up my spine.

EDWYN - THE ELEVATION YEARS (Part 2)

Continuing on from yesterday......

The second single was released in November 1987 with the catalogue number ACID6 has the distinction of being the final ever release on Elevation Records:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - My Beloved Girl
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Clouds (Fogging Up My Mind)

The 12" has the catalogue number ACID6T, and in addition to the standard version of the single, has these:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - My (Long Time) Beloved Girl
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Clouds (Fogging Up My Mind) - Cumulonimbus Version

There was also a limited edition 7" box edition (ACID 6B) which came with three postcards of black & white photos of Edwyn (the reverse of one was blank, another had lyrics written in Edwyn's own handwriting and the third had a list of tour dates in November and December 1987.) Oh and it also had two extra tracks on the vinyl as well:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - 50 Shades Of Blue (acoustic version)
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - What's The Big Idea?

50 Shades Of Blue would emerge as a 7". 12" and CD single in its own right some two years later by which time Edwyn was on Demon Records. Oh and What's The Big Idea would be re-recorded and find its way onto the LP Hellbent On Compromise which was released in 1990.

I couldn't find any promo on you tube, so I'm guessing WEA had already decided they had thrown enough money at the label so there wasn't one made.

And that, in a nutshell, is the extent of Edwyn Collin's releases on Elevation Records - and as far as I know there are no plans for any imminent re-releases.

Happy Listening.

18 WHEELER

Since JC is otherwise unavailable, here's something to be getting along with. Has to be something Scottish really. So I've picked 18 Wheeler, a Scottish indie band who went big on the remixes and so feature in my collection. Dour looking bunch aren’t they? Nevertheless, the featured tracks have more warmth and are remixed singles from 1994′s “Year Zero” LP. William Orbit’s is probably the best.

18 Wheeler consisted of Sean Jackson (vocals, guitar), David Keenan (guitar, vocals), Alan Hake (bass), and Neil Halliday (drums). Original bassist Chris “Pint Glass” Stewart left before any recordings were made, and was replaced by original drummer Hake.

They met with very mixed reviews from the British press – many critics felt they were too similar to their influences, but some others saw the range of these influences as potentially a good thing. Keenan left in 1994 to start his own group, the Telstar Ponies and was replaced by guitarist Steven Haddow. In the same year, the band released their first album Twin Action on Creation Records and in 1995 they released their second album, Formanka.

Their third album Year Zero, which saw them take a more experimental sample based approach, was released in early 1997. They were subsequently dropped by Creation following the recording of what was to be their fourth studio release. Although Alan Hake has stated that Creation Records did allow the band to keep the master tapes to this album, no plans to officially release it have materialised. Hake went on to co-found the Must Destroy record label. The band were once introduced by Tony Blair at the 1996 Labour Party Conference. The future Prime Minister managed to wrongly introduce them as “Wheeler 18”. Last FM

18 Wheeler – The Ballad of Paul Verlaine (Bentley Rhythm Ace Bra Mix)
18 Wheeler – Stay (Stereo Odessy Mix) William Orbit
18 Wheeler – Stay (Big Kahuna Mix)
18 Wheeler – Grease (M.C. Arr Grass In Piccadilly Mix)
18 Wheeler - Stay (Dr Rockit Mix)

Buy product

TECHNICAL PROBLMS.........

Sorry about lack of posts on Sunday and Monday. I've had no phone line at home since Saturday morning and as a result a total inability to access the internet. There will be loads of emails sitting ignored in the inboxes.....(nothing much new in that mind you)

As a result, the Sunday Correspondents piece couldn't be loaded and my planned review of Blog RockingBeats couldn't even be penned.......

If BT get their finger out, the problem might be resolved today and normal service will be resumed. In the meantime, a few pieced penned in advance for emergencies will appear over the next couple of days.

Oh and just in case you're wondering.....I'm typing this from my work PC. Totally against the rules and likely to get me into big trouble.

Ciao for now

EDWYN - THE ELEVATION YEARS (Part 1)

Someone said the other week, in a comment left behind after I posted the single Lean Period:-

"any info on the Elevation releases by Edwyn - and if they'll ever see a reissue? particularly fond of "my beloved girl" - and it would make for a GREAT high quality post. never seem to find anything about it...."

I've actually featured some of the stuff before on TVV but not under any concise postings with b-sides. Today and tomorrow rectifies that.

Elevation Records was set up as a joint venture between Creation and WEA in 1987. It was a short-lived affair, with just six singles and two LPs neing released between April and November by The Weather Prophets, Primal Scream and Edwyn Collins. None of the releases made the Top50 and WEA pulled the plug because of the poor sales.

Edwyn's first single has the catalogue number ACID4:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Don't Shilly Shally
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - If Ever You're Ready

This was the extra track on the 12", which carries the catalogue number ACID4T:-

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Queer Fish

The 12" versions are no different from those on the 7". Years later, the demo version of Don't Shilly Shally would appear as one of the extra tracks on one of the versions of A Girl Like You, while a re-recorded If Ever You're Ready would be part of the 1989 LP Hope and Despair as well as the b-side of the 7" single 50 Shades Of Blue).

There was a great promo made for this single:-



Happy Listening. More tomorrow.....

AS ROD STEWART MIGHT SAY....

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT......

..............but is it gonna be alright?

Who knows.

And there's only one way to find out.

Hope to see some of you there.

mp3 : Leonard Cohen - Tonight Will Be Fine
mp3 : The Specials - Enjoy Yourself
mp3 : Junior Senior - Move Your Feet

There's not much more I want to say just now.......

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 28)

I realise that I don't actually feature Cocteau Twins all that much on TVV. It's probably all to do with the fact that my fondness for them was rather short-lived and I got bored with them all too quickly.

One mate in particular raved about their debut LP Garlands which appeared in the summer of 1982. We had actually saw them them prior to this when they had been one of the support acts to The Fall at the now-defunct Night Moves venue in Glasgow (spring 82 if memory serves me correctly) when they were a three-piece consisting of Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie. Said mate I was with that night came away swearing undying devotion to them - and I reckone he stayed true to his word. But I have to hold my hands up and say I didn't quite get it. Oh and I didn't quite get The Fall that night either......

But all that changed in the Autumn of 1983 when Head Over Heels hit the shops. I fell in love with the guitar playing, the feedback and the way that the singer used her voice as an instrument rather than anything else - there was very little sense could be made of the lyrics.

So I began to take a bit of an interest in the band, and as the years went past they churned out album after album to an ever-increasing fanbase without ever really threatening to hit the jackpot. My problem with it all was that none of the next few albums seemed to be much different from what had come before in terms of sound, but none of them as a whole matched the genius of Head Over Heels. So when somone at work said that he was keen to learn a bit more about them, I happily handed over all my LPs and said I'd get them back eventually. And as so often seems to happen in such circumstances, I soon lost touch with him as he moved away to a new job in a new city and my LPs went along with him....

So I really dont have all that much Cocteau Twins material anymore in the collection. I kept promising myself that I would buy the various collections that have come out over the years, but I never ever got round to it. And while I am a bit regretful at the hole in the collection, I never lose sleep over it.

But I did keep hold of Sunburst and Snowblind, a cracking 12" EP that was released in October 1983 just as my interest in the band was probably at its peak, and I've fished out from the cupboard to share with you all today:-

mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Sugar Hiccup
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - From The Flagstones
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Hitherto
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Because Of Whirl-Jack

Released on the 4AD label, as indeed was all their material up until 1990, the EP contains a different version of one of the tracks on Head Over Heels as well as what were then three brand new songs. It didn't chart...but it did place well in the indie charts, which in October 1983 was the only chart that really mattered.....or so I told myself.

Happy Listening

SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE IN MY LIFETIME...

I suspect most folk who read this are around my age or maybe just a few years younger, so I guess all of us can recall the era of apartheid. It was the situation in South Africa, together with the miners strike in the UK and the efforts to overcome homophobia, that did more than anything else to raise my own political awareness.

I was proud to be come from a city (Glasgow) and go to a university (Strathclyde) that were among the first to give accolades to the then imprisoned Nelson Mandela. And even though I joined demos and chanted slogans, it was more in hope than expectation that I thought the change was gonna come such was the position of entrenchment adopted by the the political leaders in South Africa. And with no real pressure seemingly being put on them by the right-wing governments of the USA and UK led by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the idea that Mandela would not only be released but become president of his country seemed to be a ridiculous pipe-dream.

But it did happen. Sometimes I still don't quite believe it.

And tomorrow, the eyes of the world will be focussed on South Africa as the 19th World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela will be there in person. You know that when I watched him take that long walk to freedom in February 1990, I never imagined he would still be alive two decades on - I was certain he would be the victim of a political assassination.

I am sure that that tomorrow he and the many millions of his countrymen who went through so much in those awful years when the colour of their skin condemned them to be second or even third class citizens, will hold their heads high with pride. Maybe even a few tears of joy will be wiped away.

But please let's never forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice:-

mp3 : Peter Gabriel - Biko (12" version)

From the sleeve notes, penned by Peter Gabriel:-

Bantu Stephen Biko was a young South African leader who died in 1977 as a result of injuries received during interrogations by the South African Security Police.

I believe Steve Biko was very important. he could have been a very positove force in Africa and a leader young people all over the world could have identified with. When I heard of Steve Biko's detention on the radio, I was sure that publicity would protect him. World attention had been attracted to the large number of prison suicides; slipping in showers, jumping from windows and hanging... I was shocked one breakfast time to hear of his death and wrote down some thoughts in my diary which were to be the start of the lyrics two years later.

I also wanted to post the mp3 of one of the b-sides to this 12" single, and again will let the sleeve notes explain:-

SHOSHOLOZA (Go In Peace) was one of the tracks off the soundtrack LP DINGAKA that inspired the direction for the music of the song 'Biko'. The original is an unnaccompanied chant to which I have added an arrangement and a new rythmic section of the song.

mp3 : Peter Gabriel - Shosholoza

Incidentally, all the proceeds from this particular single went to the Steve Biko Black Consciousness Movement.

But of course, not all musicians were so inclined to get support change in South Africa, which was why the following got together in 1985 under the banner of Artists United Against Apartheid:-

Afrika Bambaataa: Ray Barretto: Stiv Bator: Pat Benatar: Big Youth: Ruben Blades: Kurtis Blow: Bono: Duke Bootee; Jackson Browne: Ron Carter; Clarence Clemons: Jimmy Cliff: George Clinton: Miles Davis: Will Downing: Bob Dylan: The Fat Boys: Peter Gabriel: Bob Geldof: Daryl Hall: Herbie Hancock: Nona Hendryx: Linton Kwesi Johnson: Stanley Jordan: Kashif: Eddie Kendrick: Little Steven: Darlen Love: Malopoets: Grandmaster Melle Mel: Michael Monroe: John Oates: Sonny Okosuns: Bonnie Raitt: Joey Ramone: Lou Reed: David Ruffin: Run-DMC: Scorpio: Gil Scott-Heron: Shankar: Bruce Springsteen: Zak Starkey: Ringo Starr: Tina B: Pete Townsend: Via Afrika: Tony Williams: Peter Wolf: Bobby Womack.

mp3 : Artists Against Apartheid - Sun City (Last Remix)

Some of you might not be prepared to take the full nine and a half minutes on this 12" mix that I've dusted down especially for today, but at least have a look at the video.



Oh and for what's it worth......I really don't care which country lifts the World Cup on 11th July....just as long as they play entertaining football on the way.

THIS COULD NEVER BE A CINERAMA NUMBER....

I really do appreciate it when comments are left behind at postings. I get a real buzz from the fact that I've said something or posted a song that has made someone, usually a complete stranger often from a place far far away from Glasgow, want to respond in some shape or form.

It was one such comment after a Cinerama single was posted a couple of weeks back that inspired today's offering. I'm only sorry that the individual left it as an anonymous comment as I would like to have been more personal today....

Anyway, the view expressed was:-

"Surely the Wedding Present and Cinerama are now exactly the same group! Hasn't Gedge said that the only difference now is the very slight change in musical style? I personally don't think he should have brought back the Wedding Present name at all. He did it for commercial purposes, and I don't blame him for that, but chopping and changing now between Weddoes name and Cinerama is ridiculous and a waste of time I reckon!"

It's a very fair point, and yes David Gedge has always said that the difference between the two bands was a style more than anything else. But having gone with Cinerama for a number of years during which the tunes became more ambitious with an emphasis on arrangements across a wide range of instruments rather than a reliance on loud guitars, the singer/composer felt that what was coming from his pen in 2003/4 were tunes that were more akin to his old line-up. And while it may be annoying to some folk, I don't think that the comeback single that was sneaked out without a great deal of fuss in November 2004 could have been anything other than a Wedding Present number:-

mp3 : The Wedding Present - Interstate 5 (single edit)

I think that this is one of the best songs the band have ever recorded in a career that now stretches back more than a quarter of a century. But it has an unusual lyric in that the male is on the receiving end for once......

About a year after the single and subsequent LP Take Fountain were released, the band and label issued Search For Paradise which not only brought the singles and b-sides together on one disc but also gave fans the chance to own a DVD with all the promos, plus some rare live material. And having watched the video, it is now something that always goes through my mind whenever I hear the song.....it is one of those strangely compelling and mesmerising bits of film that has become one of my all time favourite pop promos:-



See.....it doesn't need fancy tricks generated by computer or a huge expensive budget to make a classic.

And here's the rather excellent two tracks that were also on the CD single:-

mp3 : The Wedding Present - Bad Things
mp3 : The Wedding Present - Snapshots

Happy Listening

MENTIONING SWEDEN YESTERDAY.....

......made me think of this lot, the best pop band to ever come out of the country that gave us Volvo, IKEA, Bjorn Borg and Henrik Larsson.

I've a whole bundle of their singles and LPs on the CD shelves. Took me ages to decide which one to feature. In the end, I went for Part 1 of the single that has a lyric that contains a line that gave the name of one of the first blogs I ever hooked on to in a meaningful way and which was a real inspiration when I was starting up TVV.

So today's posting is dedicated to Adam from PLILAS. Oh, and if you read this amigo, there is room at Villain Towers if you want to come up to Glasgow in July or August for one of the Blog Rocking Beat nights. Indeed, there's a guest slot behind the decks if you fancy.....

mp3 : The Wannadies - Might Be Stars
mp3 : The Wannadies - Cherry Man
mp3 : The Wannadies - Lee Remick
mp3 : The Wannadies - Love Is Dead

The other reason for plumping for this CD over the others is the cover version of a the Go Betweens track - the coverage of their material on a long deleted but fondly remembered music blog was another great inspiration for meeting putting my fingertips into motion.

And here's the promo:-



Happy Listening.

THE COVER STAR ON THIS SINGLE......

.......is the spitting image of one of the Villains' cats. The fat one called Charlie named by her previous owner. Not the one who was so skinny when we got him from a refuge centre that he just had to be christened Jarvis.

Anyway, the cover gives no indication of who is the band or the name of the record. All of that is on the back. Anyway, it is from 1993, is on the label This Way Up with a catalogue number of WAY1833, and according to one reliable website, is worth almost £30 nowadays. I paid £4.49 for it back in the days, and it was the first of many CD singles I would subsequently purchase by this lot:-

mp3 : Tindersticks - City Sickness
mp3 : Tindersticks - Untitled
mp3 : Tindersticks - The Bullring

One of their earliest and one of their best. A storyline that is Gedge-esque (although the boy David doesnt usually use the word 'fuck' in his lyrics) with the sort of tune that even the great composer John Barry would have been proud to have penned.

Truly majestic. And they are still performing it to this day as can be seen from some concert footage in Malmo back in March




Enjoy.

THE SUNDAY CORRESPONDENTS

Is That Malcolm Middleton's Wee Brother on The Left Hand Side Of This Picture?

When I took this gig on to be an occasional contributor, I did warn JC that there would be some things said that would be unpalatable to him and many of his readers. And so ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls I am proud to present you with a look at the early history of Wet Wet Wet.

This really is a classic tale of rags to riches. Four young very working class boys, all aged 16-18, from the town of Clydebank located on the western fringes of Glasgow, get together in the early 1980s and start making music.

Taking their name from a line in the song Gettin' Havin' & Holdin' by Scritti Politti (although it could just as easily have been after the standard 7-day weather forecast for their home town), they very quickly came to the attention of a would-be svengali and guiding force in the shape of Elliot Davis who in addition to becoming their manager also decided to launch a new record label called The Precious Organisation with the aim of succeeding where Postcard Records a few years earlier had come so close.

By 1985, there was real buzz about Wet Wet Wet in and around Glasgow with much of the talk being about the incredible vocal talent of a young man christened Mark McLoughlin but who now went by the name of Marti Pellow. Elliot Davis had also decided an indie-label wouldn't deliver what the group needed, and so a licensing and distribution deal was brokered with Mercury Records.

The band were given every opportunity to grow and develop with the record label prepared to wait for a return on their investment. A fifth member in the shape of experienced guitarist Graeme Duffin was added to the line-up, although being slightly older and less fresh-faced than the others, he was never to appear in any of the publicity or record sleeves.

In 1987, the debut LP was finally released. And almost 25 years on, and while it might be very unfashionable to say so, Popped In Souled Out remains one of the best LPs ever released by any Scottish act.

There were all sorts of influences to the fore, primarily the soul music that each of the boys so adored, but their ability to write catchy and infectious pop hooks made them the darlings of the kids who loved Smash Hits magazine and whose pocket monies propelled many a single into the charts. And once they were a success, then adults who weren't bothered about the latest trends or fashions and who couldn't give a toss about Morrissey or anyone else the NME was writing about fell for their charms in their droves.

The debut LP went to #1. It spawned four Top 20 hits over a 12 month period from March 1987. But then, irony of ironies, it was an association with the NME that propelled the band to their first ever #1 single in May 1988 thanks to their cover version of With A Little Help From My Friends (backed with Billy Bragg butchering She's Leaving Home). For anyone who doesn't know, both tracks came from an NME LP entitled Sgt Pepper Knew My Father, which was a re-recording of all the songs on The Beatles LP some 20 years on in aid of the Childline charity. I know JC has a copy of this album in his cupboard, so maybe he can feature the songs next time he flies off to somewhere exotic.......it's certainly the only LP in the world that has the singing talents of Marti Pellow and Mark E Smith....

Having got to #1, there was no stopping Wet Wet Wet, and over the next 4 years they dominated the UK charts, culminating with 15 weeks at the top with their cover of Love Is All Around which came from the soundtrack of the smash movie Four Weddings And A Funeral. The song is also one that R.E.M. have covered, so the trendies shouldn't go slinging brickbats at the Wets...

I said nothing could stop the band. Well, I was wrong. Marti's heroin addiction was something hushed-up for years as it clashed with the clean-cut image they cultivated, but when the stories did come out, it was like a breaching of the dam and before long the band broke up. Only to reform a few years later, like so many others seem to do....

But this is primarily a posting about Popped In Souled Out.

It is a truly outstanding record, and impossible to believe that most of its songs were written by four lads barely into their 20s. It was never popular with the critics who didn't like the fact the four white working-class boys could be so soulful, nor the fact that the pop element appealed so much to the teenyboppers and the sort of folk who maybe only buy two or three albums a year.

Don't be a snob. Listen without prejudice.

mp3 : Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky (12" version)
mp3 : Wet Wet Wet - The Moment You Left Me

And here's a bonus remix of their debut single:-

mp3 : Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky (Metal Mix)

I bet you didn't know that uber-tendy producer Stephen Hague was involved in that remix.....

The Ghost Of Troubled Joe, Sunday 6 June 2010

"FROM THE FOLKS BEHIND SOME OF SCOTLAND'S BEST MUSIC BLOGS"

So.....a week to go.

As I mentioned last week, its all down to Drew from Across The Kitchen Table. I'll do exactly what he tells me.....and here's what he said in an e-mail earlier in the week:-

".....you were wondering if we would be using decks. I discussed this with Barney and decided on using vinyl, I much prefer it, it's easier to cue things up and it's authentic, I'm not as big fan of cd decks and even less impresssed by folk who dj from an ipod. I will however bring an adaptor for an ipod to mixer just in case you need it or I have a burning desire to play something which I have forgotten to put in my boxes."

So there you have it. Its going to be vinyl. I'll warn you now, there will be no mixing nonsense going on. Strictly a case of picking up the needle and slotting it into the groove. And given I'll also be bringing alon some LPs, there will be at least one point in the evening when, in the true spirit of John Peel, I will play a record at the wrong speed.

I'll still expect you all to dance to it mind you.

But there are a few things I do want to play that I either no longer have on vinyl or indeed have only ever owned on CD....but I'll do that when Drew isn't looking!!!!

One big favour to ask any readers who have their own blogs....how about giving us a wee bit of free publicity??????

Remember...it costs nothing to get into The Flying Duck on any of the Saturdays that Blog Rocking Beats will be taking place. Even then, you might not think you got your money's worth......

mp3 : The Raveonettes - Beat City
mp3 : The Clash - Mustapha Dance
mp3 : St Etienne - Join Our Club

Now what the hell am I going to wear???????????

IT'S FRIDAY...I'M IN LOVE WITH GREAT SCOTTISH SINGLES (Part 27)

I really do envy those of you who haven't heard today's great Scottish single before, because it really is something quite special.

I previously posted this single back on July 2007. As I said at the time, I had just picked up the track on a CD compilation entitled Ave Marina - Ten Years Of Marina Records after many years of unsuccessfully trying to track down a copy of Abandon Ship, a single originally released in 1984. Since then, I've bid a few times for the bit of vinyl on e-bay, but it always seems to go for really silly money.

Anyway, for those of you who know nothing about today's band, here's a lift from last fm:-

'April Showers were a Glaswegian indie-pop duo comprised of Jonathan Bernstein and Beatrice Colin. April Showers released their only known single "Abandon Ship" on Big Star, a subsidiary of Chrysalis, in 1984.

This was backed with another sparkling piece of pop genius "Everytime We Say Goodbye" and an instrumental of Abandon Ship; Abandon Ship Sing-A-Long-A-Wonder Mix.

Plans to release a second single on the label Operation Twilight came to nothing, and the inclusion of Abandon Ship on the compilation album "10 Years Of Marina Records" seems to be a footnote to the woefully brief story of April Showers, the perfect example of a band that has disappeared into, and whose status grows with, history.'

As I added back in July 2007, Beatrice Colin was the girlfriend of James Grant who was then part of Friends Again and later the lead in the acclaimed Love & Money. She later became a features journalist who often wrote for The Herald, a Glasgow-based broadsheet, and in recent years has become a successful novelist as can be seen here.

Abandon Ship has a magnificent production, courtesy of Anne Dudley, who was then part of The Art Of Noise and someone who worked closely alongside Trevor Horn (whose talents were the subject of this previous piece on TVV, courtesy of John Greer, one of the team of highly valued Sunday Correspondents).

It is also one of those songs that instantly takes me back to my student days, and in particular the genuinely long hot summer of 1984.

It was the first summer living away from my parents. I managed somehow to pass all my exams and have no resits. In addition, as it was University accommodation, the rent had all been paid upfront and so there were no money worries. It was also a time when full-time students could sign on the dole in between terms....looking back it was the last totally and genuinely carefree period of my life. No wonder I hark back to so many sounds of that era......

mp3 : April Showers - Abandon Ship

I know that Drew is keen for all the stuff we play at the forthcoming Flying Duck nights to be vinyl offerings (more details coming your way again tomorrow) but this is one that will, unless someone gets a bit of plastic to me in the next 7 days, have to come via a digital recording.

Happy Listening.

IN THE DAYS BEFORE BLOG AND ROLL....

There was a time a while back when I wasn't obsessed by this blog and I used to spend many hours watching music channels via the satellite dish, particularly MTV2. I picked up on a fair new things that way, and one of the songs I most enjoyed was Apply Some Pressure which at the time (early 2005) I mistakenly thought was the debut single by Maximo Park.

I rarely pay a huge amount of attention to new or emerging bands, but there was something strangely charismatic about this lot, and in particular frontman Paul Smith who had a way of just holding your attention in the promo video. So I was intrigued to see what would come out when the band released the follow-up, which happened to be in May 2005......

And it blew me away:-

mp3 : Maximo Park - Graffitti

An infectious and catchy piece of indie-pop that just grabbed you by the throat and demanded your immediate attention with a great sing-a-long lyric in the chorus. I really did think that this was the beginning of something truly special and that Maximo Park would go on to be one of the great new bands of the 21st Century.

Sadly, while I still have a lot of time for the band, I think the second and third LPs haven't built on the fantastic debut - my view five years on is that there isn't a weak song among its 13 tracks across 39 and a bit minutes - and the icing on the cake came when I caught them live (not for the first time) when they headlined an NME tour but were in danger of being totally overwhelmed by Arctic Monkeys who were second on the bill, especially after the angelic upstarts had played a blistering live set and shown that they were far more than mere hype. But Maximo Park took to the stage and crashed into Graffiti with a venom, passion and stage-presence that didn't waver over the next hour and demonstrated that they totally justified their top-billing.

Grafitti reached #15 in the UK singles charts and remains their second biggest hit outwith Our Velocity which cracked the Top 10 a year later. It was released on 2 xCDs and a 7" single, and here's your other tracks:-

mp3 : Maximo Park - Trial And Error
mp3 : Maximo Park - Graffiti (original demo)
mp3 : Maximo Park - Stray Talk
mp3 : Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure (original demo)
mp3 : Maximo Park - Hammer Horror

Happy Listening.